Photo: Randy Enochs/Uptown Film Center
The graffiti that’s marked the former Metro Theater for years is finally coming off, and it’s a sign that the long-awaited revival of the Art Deco landmark is moving forward.
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On Tuesday, October 6, Uptown Film Center began removing the years-old graffiti from the building’s landmarked façade at 2626 Broadway, at West 99th Street. The nonprofit, led by president Ira Deutchman, is turning the long-shuttered movie house into a five-screen arthouse cinema and education center, and it calls the façade work a major step forward in that effort.The graffiti has been a highly visible presence on the building and according to Uptown Film Center, a longstanding neighborhood concern.
This isn’t a routine cleaning job, though. Because of the façade’s landmark status and historic materials, the organization says the graffiti removal requires a highly specialized treatment to protect the façade and its architectural details. Its architects, Voith & Mactavish, are working in coordination with the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission.
Photo: Randy Enochs/Uptown Film Center
The building opened as the Midtown Theater in 1933 and was renamed the Metro Theater in 1982. Designed by the architectural firm Boak & Paris, its façade is clad in colorful glazed terra cotta and crowned by a central medallion depicting figures holding the theatrical masks of comedy and tragedy. The city designated the façade a landmark in 1989.
The Metro closed in 2005, and in the years that followed, the building cycled through a string of unrealized plans, from a proposed Planet Fitness to multiple attempts by national theater chains. Deutchman’s nonprofit bought the building last year for just under $7 million, with support from Martin Scorsese, Ethan Hawke, and Tim Blake Nelson.
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As we reported last October, plans for the transformation call for a main auditorium with about 185 seats, a second with 150, and three smaller rooms that will each hold roughly 45 viewers. At the time, renovation work was expected to begin in 2027, with doors projected to open in late 2028.As the transformation moves ahead, Uptown Film Center says the historic façade and medallion will be preserved and restored, and the building will get a new marquee inspired by its original 1933 design.
Photo: Randy Enochs/Uptown Film Center
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